Category: Recording

Plamena Nikitassova, Les  Elémens
111:25 (2 CDs)
cpo 555 481-2

Wow – these are barnstorming accounts by violin virtuoso Plamena Nikitassova of Biber’s ground-breaking Sonatas for violin and BC of 1681! Such is the dynamic approach of the soloist and her ensemble that it is easy to imagine the stunning effect these works had when Biber first launched them on the Salzburg public. They have all the spontaneity and originality we associate with Biber at his finest, and were an instant success, remaining popular in the repertoire for two centuries. Nikitassova follows instructions clearly laid out in two German treatises of the 17th century regarding her playing position and where she places the instrument – both illustrated on the cover painting on the CD but also in a photo inside of Nikitassova in performance. It looks like a risky way to hold a violin, but perhaps it contributes to the dangerous edgy qualities in these accounts. Flying through terrifying technical demands with breathtaking assurance, Nikitassova always sounds as if she is living dangerously, but the result is thrilling and surely just right for this eccentric and risky repertoire. This is the music of a new kid on the block out to impress – I was reminded of Beethoven’s opus 1 trios – and must have taken the musical scene in Salzburg by storm. Interesting that just a century later Mozart found Salzburg so stifling, clearly little of Biber’s radicalism had survived. The performers find room at the end of the programme for an anonymous Sonata in a similar vein to the Biber probably by his pupil Johann Vilsmayr, which found its way to Dresden but which was also probably composed in the musical ferment which was late 17th-century Salzburg. I must admit to being a huge ‘Beliber’, but I loved the courage and sheer chutzpah of these performances and am sure Biber would approve 100%.

D. James Ross

Quartetto Vanvitelli
68:20
Arcana A531

The name of Giuseppe Agus was new to me. After a degree of disambiguation, Miriam Quaquero – who wrote the excellent programme note for this CD – has been able to distinguish Gabriel Joseph Antonio Agus and Giuseppe (later Joseph) Agus father and son, musicians from Sardinia who lived and worked in London in the second half of the 18th century. In 1751 the son published his opus 1, a set of six sonatas for solo violin and BC, recorded in their entirety here by the Quartetto Vanvitalli with Gian Andrea Guerra playing the solo violin accompanied by a continuo group comprising cello, archlute and harpsichord. Guerra takes an attractively free and confident approach to Agus’s quirky, individualistic music, exploring fully its elegant nuances and unexpected melodic features, in which he is ably supported by the continuo group. In later years, Agus branched out into larger scale compositions including opera, and by necessity became like Handel an impresario and businessman. Notwithstanding artistic success, not unlike Handel, his musical business suffered bankruptcy, and he fled to France where he spent his final years. It is interesting to see how often 18th-century London provided the impetus for the production of superbly inspired music, but also frequently led to the financial ruin of its performers and composers. These spirited accounts of Agus’s opus 1 Sonatas certainly whet the appetite for more of his music.

D. James Ross

Sabrina Frey, Philippe Grisvard
59:05
TYXart TXA 21166

This is a spectacular recital by two of the great exponents of their instruments, recorder virtuoso Sabrina Frey and Philippe Grisvard a leading harpsichordist. Playing a selection of instruments, copies by Ernst Meyer of originals in F , G and D by Jakob Denner, and a lovely descant recorder by Andreas Schwob, Frey demonstrates her simply stunning technique, but also her unerring sense of phrasing and lyricism. This is a masterclass not only in recorder playing but also in musicianship. I am not sure I have ever heard such a clear and firm sound across the whole range of the recorder, even in rapidly moving passages. Frey’s uniformly rounded tone complements perfectly her complete mastery of her instruments, providing utterly persuasive accounts of these 18th-century Italian sonatas and sinfonias. Some are by familiar masters such as Giuseppe Sammartini, Antonio Vivaldi and Alessandro Scarlatti, while others are the work of more obscure composers of the period such as Ignazio Sieber, Giacomo (possibly Lodovico) Ferronati and Francesco Mancini – such is the depth of compositional talent in Italy in the 18th century that the work of these less familiar musicians is still wonderfully accomplished. One of the great joys of the CD is the interaction of these two superlative musicians – Phillipe Grisvard plays a copy by Markus Krebs of an original harpsichord of around 1700 by Michael Mietke which has a very full sound, but the balance is perfect throughout and the two performers move as one and with a shared concept of each piece. I loved this CD and have been inspired to head off to practise my recorders!

D. James Ross